Don't Take The Girl
by LightLeadingMe
Summary: "Erin, uh, used to always take her work home with her." The statement hung in the air, the emotion evident in his shaking voice. Rossi/Strauss *Takes place during The Inspiration 9x01*


"Erin, uh, always used to take her work home with her."

The statement hung in the air, the emotion evident in his shaking voice. David avoided Hotch's stare and he was briefly brought back to memories he had of Erin not too many months ago.

* * *

_David walked through his house and turned out the lights before setting the alarm. It was almost 11:30 and he was absolutely exhausted, getting back from a week-long case in Oregon only this morning. He entered his bedroom and frowned when he saw Erin sitting cross-legged on his bed with case files strewn about in front of her. _

_"I'm almost done," she told him without adverting her eyes from the paperwork and David said nothing in return. Instead, he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth and finish his nightly ritual before bed. When he came out a few minutes later there were even more files upon the mattress. _

_"Erin, you can do that tomorrow," he whine as he climbed in bed behind her. _

_"I'm almost done," she repeated, her voice firm, and David sighed._

_He watched her for a few moments, noting the way she bit her lip in concentration and pulled her bangs back behind her ear only to have them fall back in front of her eyes. Her back was hunched and her shoulders were stiff. Dave couldn't help but reach out and place his hands on her shoulders, massaging the tight muscles beneath his fingers. _

_He felt Erin visibly relax and even let out a moan of content. David leaned forward and kissed her skin where her neck and shoulder meet gently and Erin tilted her head to the side to give him more access. He trailed his kisses up to her ear and back down again, switching sides every now and then while his hands still worked their magic on her stiff shoulders. _

_"Dave," she whimpered. "I have to finish this."_

_"Not tonight," he told her. _

_She nodded her head in acquiesce and together they gathered the files and dropped them to the floor, neither one caring where they ended up. Erin turned around and captured Dave's lips with hers, moaning when he tangled his fingers in her hair and titled her head so he could deepen the liplock. Her mouth opened under his and they both fell back on their sides, facing each other as their tongues twisted together. _

_He missed her this week. Only talking on the phone was no where near good enough as being in the same room as her. The team still had no idea about their little affair. _

_Affair? Wasn't it more than that? Sure, it started out as an affair of two consenting coworkers, only on weekends when he wasn't on a case and only at hotels. But pretty quickly, it turned into any time they were both available and whose ever's house was closest. Then they started spending nights together, going out to dinner, he met her kids... It definitely became way more than affair in the past 2 months, that was for sure. _

_She was quickly becoming the center of his world. He wanted to always be near her. He wanted to touch her just because, he wanted to kiss her all the time, being accustomed to her sweet and soft lips. He wanted to fuck her on her desk, and then his desk. He wanted to whisper sweet nothings in her ear and hear her giggle and then whisper dirty things in her ear and hear her groan. _

_He wanted to tell her he loved her._

_Breaking away from her kiss at this realization, David sat up and tried to catch his breath that was lost from their makeout session._

_"Dave?" she asked as she too sat up. "What's wrong?"_

_He looked at her, the biggest smile she had ever seen lighting up his face. "Erin, I love you."_

_Erin stared at him and he watched the emotions flashing across her face as what he confessed settled in her mind. Shock, then surprise, then happiness, and then, ultimately, love and adoration._

_"I love you, too."_

_They both grinned at each other and sealed the moment with a soft, tender kiss that brought emotions David thought were deeply buried in him to the surface. They parted and he laid back down, pulling her with him. Erin reached over and turned out the lamp light so the room was settled in darkness. Then she pushed herself back so that her back was to his front and he spooned her from behind. His hand found its favorite spot on her abdomen, just beneath the waistband on her yoga pants and her arms rest on top of his. _

_David reached down and kiss her one final time on the back of the neck before both felt slumber take over them._

* * *

Hotch watched his friend who seemed to be lost in time for a few moments until David seemed to snap back into reality, unable to keep the sorrowful look of his face.

"Dave, if you need-"

"Don't, Aaron," he said, holding up his hand. He let a small, genuine smile grace his lips. "I'm okay. I've made peace."

And Hotch knew he had, but every once in a while, whether he was working on a case file, or they were standing outside a hotel, or he saw someone who looked similar to her, Hotch knew Dave was still hurting. Peace had been made, but the hurt was still there - and it probably always would be.

_Take the very breath you gave me, take the heart from my chest,_

_I'll gladly take her place if you'll let me, make this my last request,_

_Take me out of this world, God, please_

_Don't take the girl..._

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm actually in a really good mood today so I don't even know where the hell this came from. I apparently really needed a sad fic though. Anyway, let me know what you think! *Song lyrics are from Don't Take The Girl by Tim McGraw**


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